© Richard Randall

BULAWAYO

Once we were back in Bulawayo we made plans to travel back to South Africa. Before we left Zimbabwe we went shopping, and visited a train museum, an art gallery, and an arts and crafts centre. Although we didn't have much money on us, the very favourable exchange rate meant we could actually afford to enjoy ourselves. I bought a few pieces of jewellery for my mummy and myself, which were roughly a quarter of the price they would have been back in the U.K. Richard and I also ate out a lot, mainly at a great pub we found within the local small shopping centre. The food was not exactly what you could call local cuisine, it was a Scottish pub! Once inside, it really did feel like we were back in the U.K. weird! I think we both enjoyed the bread that accompanied each meal more than anything else, because it always came up hot from the oven and was served with 3 different flavoured butters, delicious. We did eat at a few other places serving more traditional local food. The small shopping centre was very modern, and although there were not many other foreigners like us there, we felt safe and everyone was very friendly. There was an excellent internet cafe in the centre which we made good use of, as usual I was really missing my mummy.

THE RAILWAY MUSEUM

The Railway Museum made a great day out for us. The collection included historic steam locomotives, railway offices and buildings, passenger carriages, and a model of an historic railway station complete with period furnishings. I think the highlight of our visit to the museum was seeing Cecil Rhodes' opulent private carriage, which dates from the 1890's. The manager of the museum came over and started to chat to us as we were admiring Cecil Rhodes' carriage, and he said that as we were the only visitors there at that time we could go inside if we would like to. Obviously we said yes and off he went to get the keys. Once inside I was worried that I would knock something over and break it, as I am fairly clumsy. We were told not to worry and relax, and we were even allowed to sit down at the table which was all set up with china plates, cutlery, glasses etc. Then the manager asked us if we would like a photo taken, so we gave him our camera for a quick snap. It felt amazing to think we had sat at the very table where Cecil Rhodes would once have sat and enjoyed his food and wine. I am sure the manager probably lets everyone in there, but we still appreciated the special treatment. We thanked the manager and left the carriage, he locked it up and off we went.

THE BULAWAYO ART GALLERY ~ DOUSLIN HOUSE & MZILIKAZI ARTS AND CRAFTS CENTRE

After enjoying the local shops and the train museum we visited the Bulawayo art gallery and the Mzilikazi arts and crafts centre, both of which were fantastic. Douslin House, as it is now called, is one of Bulawayo's most impressive buildings, it was completed in 1900, and first became the home to a mining and ranching firm. In 1956 it was taken over by African Associated Mines before the Bulawayo Art Gallery purchased it in 1980. The art gallery houses Bulawayo's permanent collection, which includes modern African art and paintings by Bulawayo artists. The Mzilikazi arts and crafts centre is an umbrella organization of local crafts groups made up of 800 artisans, mostly women and young school leavers. We enjoyed visiting both of theses places, where you could watch the artists at work and chat to them about their projects. We actually bought quite a lot of work from these talented people. We bought some small hand painted postcards, an embroidered wall hanging, two clay African figures, a really cool woven metal statue of a women, some jewellery and lots more bits. In fact we bought so much that we left the showroom with a huge box of stuff all wrapped up ready to post home. After leaving with our goodies we headed straight to the post office and posted our box home. This was a common occurrence for us, we sent home dozens of boxes during our many travels, and quite surprisingly we received all of them, not one went missing. Some did take a long time to arrive back in the U.K. as we always sent them by the cheapest, snail mail. We were often surprised by what was in the boxes as we hadn't seen the contents for so long. Our house now has so many different pieces from everywhere we have visited, they bring back lots of happy memories for us.

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As I said, if we had planned to go to Zimbabwe we would have taken more money with us and stayed much longer. Even though we only stayed for a short time I am so pleased we went. Zimbabwe is an absolutely beautiful country with lovely, friendly people.

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